[Letter hand-delivered to the constituency office of Jewish MP Luciana Berger (Labour-Liverpool Wavertree). Berger has been critical of her party leadership for failing to address the rising level of antisemitism within the party. The wreath laying refers to Jeremy Corbyn’s presence at a wreath-laying ceremony in 2014 for the perpetrators of Munich Olympics massacre of 1972.]

HELLO LUCIANA

YOU NASTY, STINKING, LYING, ZIONIST JEW-BITCH!

WHY ARE YOU AND THE OTHER JEW SCUM IN THE LABOUR PARTY TELLING LIES ABOUT A DECENT MAN LIKE JEREMY CORBYN?

WE ARE BLACK, AND THIS MAN IS A HERO, WHO HELPED FREE OUR BROTHERS IN BONDAGE IN SOUTH AFRICA IN THE 1980s. JEZZA WAS AN ACTIVIST AGAINST APARTHEID.

HELL NO! NO FUCKING WAY! WE WILL NOT STAND IDLY BY AND SEE JEW SCUM LIKE YOU PERSECUTING THIS MAN.HAD YOU BEEN IN LONDON WE WOULD HAVE STABBED YOU OR THROWN ACID IN YOUR FACE BY NOW.

BUT THAT COULD STILL BE ARRANGED,YOU BITCH, EVEN IF WE HAVE TO COME UP THERE TO GET YOU.

IF YOU JEW SCUM DON’T WANT A CORBYN GOVERNMENT IN THIS COUNTRY WHY DON’T YOU GET TO FUCK OUT AND GO TO YOUR “PROMISED LAND” - THE LAND YOU STOLE FROM OTHER PEOPLE , THE PALISTINIANS. PERSONALLY I WOULD PREFER TO SEE ALL YOUR LOT GO BACK TO THE GAS CHAMBERS AND THE OVENS, THAT IS WHERE YOU TRULY BELONG.

JEZZA WAS ABSOLUTELY RIGHT TO PAY HIS RESPECTS TO THE FALLEN MARTYRS OF THE PALISTINIAN FREEDOM FIGHTERS. WE HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH THAT AT ALL. ISRAEL IS A PARAIH, PARASITE, APARTHEID STATE SET UP ON OTHER PEOPLE’S LAND.

ATTACHED IS CORRESPONDENCE OF WHAT BROTHER LOUIS FARRIKHAN THINKS ABOUT YOU STINKING JEWS. HAVE A GOOD READ BITCH.

2) I thought people like you wanted Jews to get out of Israel, not to leave Britain to go there.

3) Ah yes, your actual preferred destination are the gas chambers. Now, what was it that our Hasan Prishtina said about anti-Semites and their explanations...

4) You even manage to insult the Palestinians (sorry, 'Palistinians') while you're at it. Can't you at least learn to properly spell the name of the people whose cause you supposedly champion?

5) Also, I don't think "Louis Farrikhan" is the proper spelling of his name. *sigh*

and, finally...

6) You know, writing the entire screed in ALL CAPS really doesn't help you look more sane or intelligent. If you were a typical example of a Corbyn supporter, I would seriously fear for the future of the UK.

Jeremy Corbyn is not at all antisemitic, he just surrounds himself with antisemitic personality cultists and honours antisemitic terrorists! I have no idea how anyone could suspect him of antisemitism! Must be Je... I mean Zionist libel!

I don't know about corbyn being antisemitic, I live in the states and whenever someone on the right call left-leaning (Or anyone left of them) antisemitic it's usually because they opinions or concerns about Israel's policies involving Palestinians

It's highly unlikely that this is a false flag. Firstly, Daily Mail readers and others on the British far-right do not reflect Corbynite beliefs of which they appear ignorant. Yet here we see an appeal to Corbyn's "decency" and Corbyn's past activism against apartheid being raised. The unimpeachable decency of the leader (forget his duplicity over Brexit and his support for tyrants across the world for a moment) is an article of faith among Corbyn supporters, as is the view that Corbyn was a central figure in the anti-apartheid movement (he was indeed arrested during a demonstration outside London's South African embassy, but the demonstration was run by a revolutionary group which was disowned by the ANC).

Secondly, luminaries of the far right tend not to denigrate Corbyn. He has received endorsements from David Duke, Andrew Anglin and Nick Griffin. They look at the Labour Party's descent into widespread antisemitism and they like what they see. Take a look at Facebook pages like Truthers Against Zionists Lobbies. As its name suggests, it is a venue for conspiratorial cranks from the extremes of left and right with more than a dash of antisemitism. But look at the banner; they know who their main man is.

Thirdly, Luciana Berger has received a ceaseless flow of antisemitic abuse since she became an MP, but especially over the last three years. There have been three successful prosecutions of her most extreme abusers, two neo-Nazis and one person from the left. Much of the day-to-day abuse comes from within the Labour Party.

Fourthly, this is hardly the first antisemitic quote on RSTDT from the British left. The last one we had, on January 22, which denied the existence of antisemitism, was from a "Trotskyist cat lover."

The point about trying to discredit Corbyn is one which Corbyn supporters use with extreme frequency. It might have had currency 3 years ago, when Corbyn was a fresh face and relatively unknown, but much less so now. As Corbyn's ratings as the best party leader to be prime minister run at around 17-20% (for sake of comparison, May's run at 38-40%, heaven help us), there would be little point in trying to discredit someone with such little credit among the voters.

@ #2183455

This is quite different from the rhetoric of the right in the States. Until three years ago, antisemitism was largely confined to the extremes of the right and left of British politics. The mainstream left (by which I mean the bulk of Labour and Liberal Democrat voters) in Britain is not antisemitic and is recognised by the mainstream right as such, while support for Israel is much more muted in the UK across the political spectrum than it is in the US. Every party in Britain had a minor problem with antisemitism, but it has only been since Corbyn, a figure way to the left of the Labour mainstream (imagine that in 2008 the Democratic Party had not nominated Barack Obama but Cynthia McKinney), that this has become such a major blight in the Labour Party.

Thanks, as always. I must confess I don't know much about British politics, so wouldn't know precisely just how much truth there is to all the allegations (and their denials) regarding Corbyn. While I'm well aware of the seemingly unending stream of anti-Semites that keep coming out of the Labour woodwork (and the claims of Labour Party members or voters that those are nevertheless just exceptions, not representative of the wider Labour Party or Corbyn's supporters), it did seem to me that the accusations against Corbyn are sometimes excessive and a bit of a stretch. And, well, other than having an overly large amount of understanding for people and groups he probably (or certainly) shouldn't give credit to, he did strike me as a somewhat decent person as far as politicians go.
Those are the reasons why I'm willing to give him a bit of consideration at least (while maintaining serious misgivings).

But of course I'm nowhere near to being a voter, activist or in any way influential at all on this matter, so I didn't feel the need to look more deeply into the issues. If I were to find myself in a position where I had to e.g. participate in a serious discussion regarding Corbyn, I would of course educate myself better.

I hope that's an OK stance as far as you're concerned?

In any case, I respect your opinions and will take into consideration whatever you might think.

Look, Corbyn and the Labor party might not be antisemitic and this might all be all false flag. Sure, let's all drink the Alex Jones juice for a bit and go the conspiracy route. In response, let me ask you this; what does it say about Corbyn and Labor that this big conspiracy would be believable in the first place? Addressing this properly would be a trifling effort, but it's one Corbyn does not seem to be willing to give.
Simply put, it doesn't really matter at this point. Between Brexit and this other long debacle, I'm not convinced Corbyn cares about anything more than political power.

I understand your point entirely; much of the British public used to feel the same way. However, three years into his being Leader of the Opposition, and opinion has gradually changed. That's one reason that this chart looks the way it does:

I must admit I keep a close watch on this issue; I want a left-wing government to replace what is certainly the worst government the UK has had since the 1920s. But a) I believe that decency involves a society that cares for its poor, sick, disabled and homeless without wishing to trash the economy for the sake of gaining power, or tolerating racism or supporting tyranny abroad, still less parroting Russia's views on everything from Ukraine to Venezuela to (for a few months) Salisbury; and b) I am not prepared to throw the Jewish members of my family under the bus to get what I want.

The trouble is that, every few weeks, something emerges from Corbyn's past that shows him in a rather less than decent light, whether it be a soft spot for violence (Sinn Féin had to plead with him to stop opposing the negotiations that led to the Good Friday Agreement), racism (claiming that "Zionists" who had lived "in this country all their lives" didn't get English irony) or general crankery (claiming that the EU would become a "military Frankenstein" if the Lisbon treaty were approved). If you're not following things in the UK that closely, and there's no reason why you should, much of this passes you by.

There are also the people that Corbyn has chosen to surround himself with, notably his advisors Seumas Milne and Andy Murray, both erstwhile members of a hardline faction of the Communist Party, Milne noted for his apologetics for Stalin and Murray for his support for North Korea. Corbyn's private life seems decent (there is a salacious biography out at the moment, but it's his politics that matter, not what he does in private).

The point that Insult to Rocks makes is important: addressing this problem would be easy if Corbyn wanted to, but he doesn't. To illustrate, about ten years ago a Labour Party member made an antisemitic post and linked to a neo-Nazi website. Within the week, she found herself expelled from the party; I remember it because it seemed so scandalous at the time. Today, party members posting links to neo-Nazi websites happens almost daily, and while groups like Labour Against Antisemitism report them to the party (it has logged 1,400 cases with the party with another 4,000 in preparation), the party does nothing with the perpetrators. And so it goes on. Indeed, some Corbyn supporters in the party leadership have been very vocal in criticizing those who complain about antisemitism.

With the (likely) prospect of the UK crashing out of the EU without a deal and the (less likely) prospect of Corbyn and his supporters ruling the UK, I am thinking it's time to go home, Trump or no Trump.

Thanks. That does put things in a more worrying light. I hadn't heard about a lot of that.

And the fact that you would say

"With the (likely) prospect of the UK crashing out of the EU without a deal and the (less likely) prospect of Corbyn and his supporters ruling the UK, I am thinking it's time to go home, Trump or no Trump."

...is downright chilling. I mean, 'Trumpistan' looks very unappealing indeed now, especially for people like us (since your political views look rather similar to mine).
And I know very well what it feels like to have serious worries that soon might come the time to evacuate yourself from your country - in my case, from my own homeland.

If you've been following the trajectory of Croatia in recent years, you'll probably know what I mean. Speaking of which, just yesterday I submitted a couple of recent incidents here to FSTDT... :/

I think it was John Oliver who recently summed up the British vs American who-can-fuck-up-worse competition pretty succinctly.

He made the point that while Trump's tenure would have lasting consequences, he himself had a built in expiration date. Be it next year, or five years from now, Trump will be gone and whoever comes next will have to clean up the mess.

Brexit has no expiration date - once it's done, it's done and our country will never recover what it lost. Even if we rejoined the EU, our influence and credibility is gone. And when we look at who will be cleaning up the mess, we have either Theresa May and the Tories or Jeremy Corbyn and Labour, and both look like they will only make it worse.

To others here; I'm saddened to hear what's going one in the U.K. To hear Anon-e-moose talk, I thought things were getting better.

Here's the thing; The U.K. could easily end this....There's plenty of Progressives who could run for office.

Why don't they? All those Progs in the U.K. need to get off their "holding out for a hero" butts and do something! Where's the united Progressive Grass-Roots movements?

Same with a lot of other countries! Why don't noble Prog-minded people ever step up to the plate in Brazil, Phillipines, etc? If you're a savvy intelligent Progressive, RUN FOR OFFICE!

Run from the bottom-up! Run for mayor or some lower offices and work up!

Don't have money? FUND RAISE!

Stop waiting for the other guy!

Don't see real Progs running? Run yourself!

This is one of the few things that makes Americans better than Europeans....WE BELIEVE IN OPTIMISM, HAPPY ENDINGS AND HOPE! WE ARE FIGHTERS AND EVEN THOUGH TRUMP HAS DONE A LOT OF CRAP, THERE'S AN ORGANIZED PROGRESSIVE FRONT READY TO DESTROY HIM! WE STRIVE TO GET PROGRESSIVE CITIZENS TO RUN FOR OFFICE! IT TOOK A WHILE BUT THE LEFT IS RISING AGAIN!

If we; The "Backwards Idiot" Developed Country can have a huge chance....YOU, THE BETTER EDUCATED, SMARTER, LESS UPTIGHT EUROPEANS WHO EXPERIENCED PERSONALLY THE HORROR OF FASCISM CAN DO SO AND EVEN MORE SO!

But you can't do "Progressive Activism" to save your life! You can't unite at a grass-roots level and your cultural mindset embraces Cynicism, constantly rather than Hope, Idealism and Optimism.

I'm not saying "Be a Pollyanna". Yes; You need to bee realistic but an culture of "Can do" can do wonders for morale and big morale leads to big effort and big change!

People in Europe may laugh at the American's general preference for "Happy Endings" in movies/TV Shows/etc. (not that we don't crank out a lot of grim, cynical, pessimistic stuff ourselves) and seemingly over-the-top Idealism.

For all the stuff the USA does wrong, at least they make up for it with that spirit of Idealism, Hope, a relative bit of Optimism and fighting spirit.

* The European will see Social Injustice and asks "how can I live/cope with this?".
* The U.S. American will see Social Injustice and ask "How can I fight this and make things right?".

In many ways, Western Europe is way better than the USA, but the USA is ahead of you in regards to that spirit of Idealism and Positivity.

That's why we US Progs were able to regroup in wake of Trump's bogus election. That "fauxlection" managed to be the shot in the arm the once rag-tag, divided Left needed. We regrouped, we realized "It can happen here"! Since the 2016 Election, we've been forming groups, running for offices, brainstorming, examining how propaganda, framing and other nuances work, we've had giant protects and voting drives, we've been working and the Democratic Party (while Centrist/Center-Right to Europeans is Progressive/Center-Left to us Yanks) has finally grown a backbone.

Europeans may think of "Yankees" as a bunch of "Simple-Minded Pollyanna Fools" for being generally "overly" optimistic but being "Hopey Changey" is not a bad thing!

Hope and positivity fosters a high morale, which makes the ability to fight injustice even better. Nothing wrong with a bit of hope and a cautious sort of optimism.

WE ARE "THE HOLY FOOL"....
....AND "THE HOLY FOOL" IS SOMETIMES THE WISEST OF THEM ALL (EVEN WITH THE CLIFF)!

That's why Moose is my fave commenter, here; He's a Brit but he has a very USA-like sense of hope and optimism. I admire that. Why can't the entire U.K. be like Moose?

That's also why I love the early David Tennant character, Campbell Bain (along with the fact that he's GORGEOUS)....
....The 6-Part miniseries he's in may have ended somewhat grimly but his arc turned out well. He got a Happy Ending and his "Holy Fool" spirit, heart and unending positivity got him through! Also; I apply "Canon Discontinuity" to the show and only watch the first 3 episodes (making it a straight-up happy ending with the radio station saved).

That's why I love Star Wars. It's entire message is "Hope" and the power of Progressive change....overthrowing the Fascists and lifting up Freedom and Diversity.